A Promise Darkly

Tired eyes glanced at the table not a moment later as Antonio sighed, his position slightly hunching as if he was carrying a heavy weight. His lips pursed, and Jean waited with more patience than he thought he'd have for the nephilim to continue speaking.

After a moment more of silence, Antonio began, "I don't know what happened before I got involved. I was actually investigating the cultists, as I learned they started kidnapping people for sacrifices to a demon."

Jean's eyes slightly narrowed.

"I never came upon the demon myself, but I'd reckon it was B-Class, a rarity for Colorado. When I got to the cultists, they had...already killed several of Nadelyn's escorts. I honestly don't know what happened prior to my arrival...but she was badly injured. The trauma also seemed to have sped up her labor..."

The knowledge his sister was killed so randomly wasn't something that couldn't happen, but that didn't make it any better for Jean. He shut his eyes.

"After killing the cultists, I...helped deliver Patty..." Swallowing, clearly uneasy, Antonio moved his hands from atop table. If Jean had to guess, he was wringing them together. "Before passing, Nadelyn told me Patty's real name and to...take care of her. I promised I would, and both she and the last man who had survived died shortly after."

Sudden silence descended. Jean's eyes dragged to stare at the sandwich in front of him.

He no longer had an appetite.

At least seventeen years had passed since he last thought of his younger sister. He didn't like to think about her, as at the time, he didn't know what had happened to her or her unborn child. So many years later, he realized he should have thought of her more. And maybe he did, subconsciously.

He cracked a humorless smile to himself. Patty looked too much like Nadelyn; she had nothing of Hugh, it seemed, but shared blood.

After softly clearing his throat, Antonio said, "So...what I said about that demon going after Patty was...true." He shut his eyes and looked away. "It's the only mistake I ever made...relating to Patty. It knew about her, maybe from her scent on me, and found her. I managed to prevent it from doing anything too damaging...but it did curse her with some demonic affliction before I killed it."

Staring at the table, Jean listened quietly.

The sudden, humorless chuckle from the nephilim brought Jean's gaze back to him. "Gods...when I tell you how fucking stupid I felt when I found out I could just...remove the curse..."

Jean's eye twitched. "You didn't fucking know that?" he spat before he could stop himself. "You're half-fucking-devil."

He sensed that Celezar wanted to say something, but his mate remained quiet even when a strange look appeared on the nephilim's face. Jean couldn't discern it, but it made him tense with concern.

"I...M-my..."

Brows tightening, he sat upright and watched a small spasm run through the nephilim's body.

"Antonio," Celezar said softly, carefully, "he doesn't know."

A soft, startled sound emitted from the man, and then he seemed to wither or withdraw, sinking into his seat. "R-right..." He rubbed his face. "Sorry..."

Jean felt conflicted. He didn't want to dislike Antonio, but he was frustrated to hell and back. He so dearly wished to ask the man what the fuck happened to him.

"I, um...don't know my abilities, I admit," the nephilim said after a few seconds of awkward silence. "My devilside is...not so forthcoming, if you can believe it..."

When the silence dragged on and no movement was made, Celezar wrapped an arm around Jean's shoulders. At first, Jean fought against it, but he soon found himself resting against his mate's chest.

Antonio remained quiet. After several silent moments, he slowly took a drink from his frappe. "I know I'm not the most capable person, but..." He hesitated. His hand disappeared from the table again, and several stuttering attempts to speak emitted from him.

Jean glanced up at the nephilim to see him struggling to talk.

"I'm sorry," the older man finally whispered.

Rubbing his forehead with a relenting sigh, Jean said, "It's...fine. You've done a great job raising Patty...it seems."

Antonio didn't raise his head. "I meant what I said, Jean. She's...my daughter. I'd burn the world for her. I'd murder for her." His eyes met Jean's.

Lips tightening, Jean understood the unsaid words.

I'll fight for her.

The stare lasted for a few seconds, then the white eyelashes flickered and Antonio lowered his gaze. "But...if she wants to go to Isle Veni and live there...I'm...I'm truthfully nervous about letting her go."

"Why?"

With a humorless laugh, the nephilim's eyes closed. "You're the Lowells. I can't imagine what sort of twisted values you'd teach her and..." The smile gradually disappeared. "She'd grow to hate me."

"She seems smarter than that."

The look Antonio gave Jean was almost enough to make Jean flinch. Pale eyes quickly darted to Celezar, and then he deflated, eyes returning to stare at the table. "You know as well as I do that's not what I'm worried about." He shook his head. "No...I reckon more than I do."

Much as he hated to acknowledge this, Antonio was right.

Jean's family would do anything to make Patty conform to their ways, even if that meant hurting her, somehow. Not physically, no, but there were other methods of abuse.

Swallowing, Jean slowly nodded in agreement. Exhaling from his nose, he looked the nephilim over. The older man appeared worn and defeated, broad shoulders slouched forward, and he looked as if he could cave in on himself at any moment. His long white locks blocked his eyes from immediate view.

"I'm sorry, Jean," he suddenly whispered. "If...she wants to, I'll let her go. I'd...burn the world for her..."

Jean frowned, shifting. The man sounded confused.

Celezar also shifted. "Antonio," he said sharply, startling his cousin and bringing his blinking gaze at him. "I'm sorry if this is bringing up bad memories, but--"

"Y-yeah." Antonio ran a shaking hand through his hair, revealing his face and his uneasy, nearly teary expression. "Sorry..."

Brow creasing, Jean recalled what Hamza said about the nephilim. "Antonio..."

Looking away, Antonio seemed to know what the question was when he shut his eyes.

"Is it true you're an alcoholic?"

"I've never let it interfere with raising Patty. Ever," he said quickly. Defensively.

Jean narrowed his eyes but believed him. "Yet she knows you drink."

His head bobbed, slower, and he bit his lip. "Y-yeah, she...uh, she's known forever..."

With a sigh, Jean felt conflicted again. "I don't know what to make of you, man. But that's only because I don't know you."

Antonio didn't move.

"Will you be attending the meeting?"

"I...could, but I'm not the leader nor a member of any group."

Jean looked back at his plate. He thought about it for a moment, then slid it in front of Celezar.

His mate softly chuckled, then eagerly lifted and took a bite out of the sandwich.

Sitting back, Jean took a drink of his coffee. "Thank you," he said after a moment.

Antonio wordlessly nodded again.

Watching him, Jean ultimately, albeit against what he felt was his better judgement, decided it was likely fine to keep his niece in the nephilim's care. What bothered him now was what his family may do to bring her back, regardless.

He placed a hand over his forehead with an internal sigh. They would have to wait until December, then.

After Celezar finished his sandwich, Jean left the café with him, leaving the nephilim to himself in uneasy silence.

He waited until they had walked a considerable distance back towards the stables to sigh, "He's not mentally stable."

"Not a bit."

"Do you know why?" he asked, glancing up at his mate.

"Unfortunately...nearly every denizen of Inferno knows his story..." Celezar's expression briefly darkened, then he rubbed his neck. "It's not really my place to explain, but. He'd die before treating someone he loves the same way."

Jean exhaled. "Very well."

"You don't like him, do you?"

"I don't...care for him, but my niece is happy with him. That's...all that matters for the time being. There are too many nuances involved for me to judge him point-blank."

"Wise words, love."

Jean shoved Celezar with his elbow, eliciting a laugh from his mate and an arm around his waist.

* * *

Jean returned to the Memorraw in time for the meeting. The rock walls greeted him as the elevator doors to the second floor opened, and he followed small gatherings of people heading towards the meeting room. Passing through another long, wide hall, he glanced at the doors that were as tall as the ceiling.

A voice boomed over the loudspeaker, "All guests, please head to the meeting hall. The conference will begin in twenty minutes."

He took notice of several familiar hunters as they gathered, including Hamza. While the number of people who were going inside was large, there weren't so many that it felt cramped or overcrowded. People were handed microphone headsets as they entered, which Jean declined since he had his own.

A massive oval table with a hollow center created from smaller tables was situated in the center of the room. A projector screen had already lowered on the far side of the room while men on the opposite far wall stood at the ready with a projector. People filed in and sat in random spots, each leader of a group sitting beside their seconds-in-command.

Hunters entered from other parts of the room other than just the main door. Some of these people Jean had never seen before, and he eyed the occupants as he sat in a chair beside Artie. At his opposite side, someone sat, and he smiled at his friend Jermaine Hancock, who returned the amiable greeting. Beside Jermaine sat his cousin Melanie, and some ways across the table sat some of Jean's other friends and acquaintances, including Alister, Madeleine Crane, and a short woman with long black hair who gave him a wide, friendly smile.

He nodded back, pleasantly surprised to see Euphemia; he hadn't noticed her until then.

Following her appearance, his eyes narrowed at the sight of the stupefyingly tall form of Modeus, who entered the room without a smile or narrowed eyes. Behind him was a man of moderately average height who was speaking with him. By the way the reddish eyes rolled at what was being said every few seconds and the growing frustration of the other man, Jean began to wonder if this was Modeus' leader.

He stored the mental question away upon seeing Celezar and another woman enter. From what little Jean understood of the woman, she was a member of the Visce Hunters and, secretly, one of Celezar's older sisters. Celezar's gaze was on Modeus, and he didn't look happy. If the other inhuman knew he was being stared at, he didn't react to it.

Shortly, there were only a few empty chairs left. Soft droning voices echoed in the space along with the sounds of metal jingling and clinking. Celezar and his sister sat at Artie and Jean's far left, and Artie hadn't taken notice of him, yet. So, Jean decided to act as if he hadn't seen him, either. His focus went to the Licht Hunter leaders, Cher and Inez, as they sat in two of the last four chairs. Shortly after they sat, an inky-dressed man with a languid smile plastered on his face sat beside Cher, the older sister.

Jean almost scowled to himself upon seeing Nigel. Almost. Shortly after they sat, the familiar tall, muscular form of Caden Holloway briskly entered the room. Like his companions, he wore a small microphone, and his ocean-blue eyes scanned the room before he sat down beside Nigel. Almost instantly, the voices stopped speaking, drowning the room in near-perfect silence.

Caden looked to his left and his right, eyeing the people present. He appeared to take in every single person who was sitting, sweeping with a critical gaze. Briefly, looking forward, he closed his eyes. "I'm going to get right into something before we continue with more important matters. Inez, Cher, and I have received a plethora of complaints about the...more unusual members of some groups, if not entire groups themselves."

Jean sensed a sudden and radical shift in the air after these words were spoken. He glanced at Artie, who narrowed his eyes and seemed to hold his breath, waiting to explode. Other hunters glanced at or glared at those they also had bones to pick with, and some softly groaned or shook their heads and rolled their eyes.

Looking around again, Caden held his hands out, palms-up, on the table. "Let's hear it together then, no going behind each other's backs."

The second the words left his mouth, a hunter barked, "I don't feel safe here, in the presence of the very creatures we hunt for a living."

"What's the point of doing what we're doing if some of us think it's okay to become friends with these creatures?" asked another, glaring openly at two hunters with noticeably inhuman traits.

"It's never been a problem before," said a different hunter who sat beside an inhuman. Their arms were crossed and they appeared to be bored. "You all have been in the presence of inhumans since the start. You just never knew it, then. Now, there's no reason to hide."

There were disagreeing murmurs. "There's still plenty of reasons to hide," a man sneered.

"Is that a threat?" Modeus chuckled, his dark eyes narrowing. "Because if it is, you're being penultimately foolish."

The man beside him, who had entered with him, clenched his hand on the table. "Modeus, please..."

"Is that a threat?" countered a woman who glared at Modeus. "Talk like that is exactly what we're talking about! Your kind can't be trusted!"

"And who the hell are you, anyway?" asked another. "I've never seen you, before."

There was a surprising lull of silence after these words. The man beside Modeus glanced at him, and the inhuman softly chuckled before crossing his arms. "Oh? You all do introductions at these meetings, eh? Well, then..." He swept his gaze around the table. "Modeus is the name, leader of the Cider Hunters of Iroquin. This fine man beside me is my second-in-command, Alize."

Said man openly rolled his eyes.

Jean's eyes widened. He never would have guessed that Modeus was the leader of his group. From the bit of interaction he had with him, he didn't seem like leader material.

"Fine, whatever," said Artie from beside Jean. "But what the fuck are you doing here?" He pointed at Celezar with a deep, loathing scowl.

A friendly but meek smile formed on Celezar's face. "Hey, man."

"Answer the fucking question. I'm astounded you were even allowed in here, after what you did to Jean."

At this, several questioning, suspicious and distrusting eyes glanced into Celezar's direction.

But the kind smile persisted, though it did slightly falter as olive-green eyes briefly darted at Jean. "I'm a hunter, Artie. All of us inhuman-born hunters are hunters, true and through."

Sounds of dissension immediately arose. Voices overlapped, words of outrage and disbelief spewed from angry mouths.

As Artie was one of those who spoke loudly, Jean closed his eyes with a soft, patient sigh.

"This is your fault, Holloway!" Attention went to a woman who shot up in her seat, glaring at Caden. She pointed to him. "If you had set a better example as the leader of the Government's hunters, no one would have gone along with this mad idea of allowing inhumans in their company!"

Nigel raised an amused brow, whereas Caden said nothing. He didn't even look at her, his eyes closed.

There was a loud, drawn-out sigh. "Is that so?"

Jean looked at Modeus, who no longer looked entertained. He was borderline irritated, judging from the narrowed-eyed expression on his face.

He looked around, slowly and methodically scanning everyone's faces. When he came to Jean, he paused. "It is as our companion said. Inhuman-born hunters have been in your presence since the very beginning. Furthermore, we all know why we've decided not to hide and why you all got our help to begin with. Do I really have to remind you of the incident with the devil and its mate?"

A sudden cold silence descended over the room as everyone remembered. Some even shivered, as if they could physically feel a draft.

He broke into a self-satisfied smile. "I thought so. And? What have we learned from that?"

"That you still can't be trusted," scoffed one man.

"Oh? Speak up, man. Did you have a bad experience?" Modeus teased.

Throwing a scowl his way, the man folded his arms. "No."

A different man raised his head. His eyes were bitter and cold. "My group did. The inhuman we were working with left some of my men to die on a hunt. I lost three good lives, that day."

"See!" said the first man. "Can't be trusted!"

"I'm willing to bet the situation isn't that black and white," Hamza sighed.

"Listen, Akhdar--"

"You listen." Hamza pointed at him, leaning forward. "My family has been working with inhumans since the dawn of our time. We've never had a single casualty caused by the betrayal of an inhuman, because there were no betrayals."

The second man's eyes blazed with anger, and he stood from his seat. "Are you saying my men died because of something we did?" he asked, voice hard with emotion.

Hamza opened his mouth to respond, but he was intercepted by a different hunter. "I wouldn't be surprised," they said languidly. "We have another Reznick on our hands."

All at once, the room erupted with outrage, not just from the human hunters, but even the inhumans. Jean's gaze snapped over into the man's direction, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Oh, no." Of all voices, it was Zueiry Guzman's who rose above the others. She went to her feet, staring harshly at the impudent hunter. "We do not speak ill of those who died giving their lives to defend and protect humankind."

Inez half-stood out of her seat, hands on the table. "There's no tolerance for imprudent words, here," she elaborated with a hiss. Her commanding gaze tore through the others. "Is that fucking clear?"

"Not a bit."

Indignant eyes shot over at Modeus, who sat with folded arms and leaning back in his seat.

"After all...if that was truly the case, you wouldn't be speaking so heedlessly about my people. We're here, too, you know, dying and fighting the good fight with you all." He raised his right hand. "I have the mark of a hunter on the back of my hand. We all do, or we wouldn't be here. We all made the vow to fight against inhumans. Against our brethren."

The sudden silence was deafening.

Jean sat back, observing the inhuman in a slightly different way.

Modeus seemed to anticipate a retort to his words as he scoffed, "'Why?' you ask? Because we all know, personally, intimately, how bat-shit fucking crazy inhumans can be. Some of us are more like humans, under constant threat by stronger and more powerful inhumans ourselves. We know what it's like to be in your situations, losing companions, families, villages, towns, cities to other inhumans. Surely, if you're able to think logically for even a moment, you can see how this means we're not all bad."

Mutters sounded around the room, but no one responded aloud.

Caden stood from his seat, his eyes closed as if completely oblivious to what had happened. "With that out of the way, let's focus on the matter at hand..."

His words sent their intended message, and the mutterings and grumblings in the room shortly came to an end.

After he spoke, the room went dark and light projected onto the screen behind him. He moved to the side as footage began to play. It took Jean a moment to realize what he was looking at, but his eyes steadily widened.

On-screen, a large black creature emerged from a large cave opening, nearly indistinguishable even to his eyes. A large gathering of inhuman hunters stood a distance from the entrance and fired at it with automatic rifles and heavy artillery mounted on trucks. The creature bore spiderlike limbs and screeched as it fully emerged, clearly harmed by the weapons but not nearly enough.

Jean shuddered in his seat, and he felt Celezar's eyes dart at him.

"We will finish this, Hunter."

The inhuman's last words to him abruptly echoed in his mind. He softly groaned, holding his head as it gave a terrible throb.

"You okay?" Artie asked in a whisper, a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm...fine," he muttered, waving Artie's hand away. His cousin's worry wafted from him, but he wasn't paying attention.

If the demon was still affecting him, it was far more powerful than he thought. Perhaps it wasn't B-Class, and it may not have been entirely Infernal.

Mahre or hallow...

The creature's words continued resounding unnaturally in his mind, and the more he tried to ignore it, the more it hurt him.

"You thought you could hide from me, Hunter," the voice continued, louder--too loud. He grasped his head with both hands as deep chuckling resounded inside.

The sound cut off with a deep, grating hiss as his mate's presence enveloped him, shoving the unwanted being out of his mind. With a sighing groan, he fell back, and normal sound finally returned to his hearing.

Concerned murmurs and nearby presences spoke to him, and his eyes slowly opened to see Artie, Jermaine, and Caden over him. He was on the floor, his head pounding despite the comfort in his being.

He couldn't quite make out words, and he glanced towards where he knew Celezar sat.

The throbbing in his mind slowly eased. "Jean? Are you alright?"

"N...no," he muttered aloud.

"What?" Artie asked, eyes wide with alarm. To Caden, he said, "We gotta get him to the..."

Closing his eyes, Jean let the voices around him fade. He felt someone place him in their arms and lift him off the floor. Focusing on Celezar, he yearned for his mate as distance between them increased.

"I'm here, Jean."

His jarred consciousness relaxed, and he drifted into darkness.

* * *

With a gasp, Jean awoke disoriented from a deep, dreamless sleep.

"It's alright, love."

Immediately, he calmed at the nuzzling into his hair. His nostrils twitched as he tried to assess where he was, and he was satisfied to know he was in his room within the Memorraw barracks.

Then, there was that scent coming from Celezar...

He looked up into a smiling face and slanted green eyes. "You're pregnant."

Celezar sighed, placing a hand over his abdomen. "Yeah." He pulled Jean closer, whispering into his ear, "You kept your promise."

Shivering abruptly, Jean just barely kept his eyes from rolling into his head. "Dammit, Zarryel," he murmured as a smile grew on his face.

Celezar chuckled, nuzzling and cuddling against him. "You're surprised every single time."

"I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that we can have children, Zarryel." Soft rumbling made pleasant sensation roll down his back. He slowly placed his hand over Celezar's.

"How are you feeling, love? You took a bit of a blow..."

Sighing, Jean briefly rubbed his forehead. "I feel better. Still a bit jarred. What was that?"

"Thanks to that..." Celezar worked his jaw, clearly trying to find the right words. He finally cleared his throat. "Assault...on your mind...I got a trace of that fucker. It's a hallow/demon hybrid."

"Fuck's sake..."

"Yeah..." Celezar scooted down to rest his head against Jean's chest. He began to rumble as Jean combed his fingers through his reddish locks. They were quiet for a moment, during which Jean closed his eyes. "The meeting went on after you were brought to the infirmary."

"Was it that bad?"

"Yeah...They did a sweep of your mind with a spell but couldn't find anything, of course. I made sure of that. So, they're thinking it's an attack made by the connection from seeing it again as an image, meaning they're going to be taking the hybrid far more seriously than they originally would have."

"You mean it wasn't an intentional attack on my mind?"

"No, it undoubtedly was. Hallows and mahres, and even more specifically hybrids of them, are capable of being aware of someone when they are mentioned or thought of, but it isn't a common ability." Celezar shifted against him. "It's powerful. Easily upper A-Class."

"Fucking hell..." Jean covered his face, then dragged his hand down. "This means it's powerful enough to destroy a continent."

"Yes. With ease."

"Did Artie give Caden my report?"

"Yeah, immediately after you fainted."

Jean looked down at him. "I've to see him."

A whine, and he was brought closer to his mate. "Stay with me."

"Zarryel..."

Green eyes peeked at him. "Please?"

He gave in easily, recalling his abrupt leave from their home in Connecticut. He hugged Celezar closer, entwining their legs together. Still feeling tired, he felt the gentle, comforting presence of his mate lull him to sleep.